Balkan Ball is an Ebony strip, which means there’s lots of racist caricature to negotiate, amplified by Ebony getting a sidekick, Pierpont, who is also visualized in racist caricature. Scarlett appears, too. So it’s three… well, it’s actually more, but only for what ought to be a delightful sight gag. As usual, Ebony’s strengths as a character work against the weaponizing visualization. Last big Ebony adventure: it was about him being a good detective on his own, even though others thought he wouldn’t be, so there was a very obvious disconnect. Balkan’s a little less disconnected as Ebony is more comfortable in his crimefighting abilities.

After the splash page, which sets it up as an Ebony (and Pierpont) strip, we get Spirit ditching Ebony to go to a fancy ball and keep an eye on the jewels. It’s for the war effort. So Spirit gives Ebony the car for the night (no, sir, the other car). Spirit then goes to pick up Ellen Dolan to take to the fancy ball, but the reader learns she’s already made a date with a prince. Ellen says there are all sorts of royalty around with the war on. Commissioner Dolan’s not particularly thrilled she’s dating a prince (suggesting loose moral behavior amongst Europe’s royalty). When Spirit gets there, Ellen tells him off and sends him out before breaking into tears at him finally picking her.

Not great Ellen writing.

Spirit then runs into the prince on the street—well, bumps—and is pretty sure he’s a professional thief, not an exiled royal. But Spirit lets it go and heads to the ball.

Meanwhile, Ebony goes to pick up Scarlett to take her to the movies, but she saddles him with her cousin, Pierpont, who’s a stereotypical troublemaking kid. Scarlett then runs out, and Ebony’s stuck. Worse, Pierpont is holding him a little hostage, threatening to badmouth Ebony to Scarlett. Instead of the movies, they go to bingo, where it turns out Pierpont’s a wunderkind at selecting the right bingo card.

Except they then get held up by some thugs, who they take out in short order—Ebony’s a crimefighter with a flying car, don’t forget—and those thugs are part of a plan to take out the Balkan Ball, bringing the threads together.

The narrative is thorough and precise. Eisner and studio hit all the points to build the story along, once again frustrating in what should be a cool strip for a little Black kid to be reading in summer 1941 instead of some traumatizing shit. Ebony and Pierpont are instrumental in foiling the heist, which will also get Ellen and Spirit into some close quarters; angry ones, too.

And the finish is well-executed. Good art on the Spirit’s relatively quick resolve with Ellen; probably the horniest Eisner and studio have gotten about this pairing. Spirit’s had some other hot encounters, but I don’t think any with Ellen. It’s brief, though. And there are some not-ideal power dynamics.

Then Ebony gets a good finish, too. Except they draw it racist, so there’s a shitty element to it.

Technically, stellar narrative pacing and plotting. Some of the other stuff… ick.